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The 

CENTENARY 

HORACE 
GREELEY 



PUBLISHED BY 

THE CHAPPAQUA HISTORICAL 

SOCIETY 



XHE PRICE OF THIS BOOK : 
^ FIFTY CENTS, OR OVER, 
AS A CONTRIBUTION 
TOWARDS ERECTING A 
STATUE TO HORACE 
GREELEY, AT CHAPPAQUA, 
WESTCHESTER COUNTY, 
NEW YORK. ^CONTRIBU- 
TIONS SHOULD BE SENT 
TO MR. JACOB ERLICH, 
TREASURER, NO. 40 TO 46 
WEST TWENTIETH ST., 
NEW YORK CITY 



r 






Gc 



1811 




His Birthplace — From Photojiruph 



Our Preface 

The New York World Editorial 

.... ()>.... 

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1910 



Horace Greeley's 100 Years 

To the many ixTsons still liA-in,u' who rcincinber 
Horaco (li'cclcy as a daily fijiurc in tlic life of New 
York the one hundnMlth anniversary of his l)irth. 
which falls on Fob. .'). 1*.)11. will have a special 
significance. By those of a later licneration no less 
is tribute due to the memory of a man who played a 
jKirt as editor, anti-slavci-y leado- and ardent sup- 
])()rter of the Inioii that made him ono of the 
leadin<i; chai'actci-s of his century. 

The moral force and enei',i;y that (Ireeley brouiiht 
to his work gave him a pei'sonal inlhience that to-day 
is difficult to a])preci;ite under changed conditic.tns. 
The blows he struck foi' freedom when the light 
against human sla\'ery was a doubtful cause and 
most needed I'ecruits were I he expression of con- 
victions that ignored jiopular ill-will and pei'sonal 
dangei'. lie was a dangerous cond)atant whose 
conscience told him that he was right I'egardless of 
majorities and minoi-ities. and time and events have 
fulK' juslilied the enlightened doctrines that he 
preacheil wilh misp.ariug \'ehemence. 

Mei'ely .as ;i man who bi'ought about the nomina- 
tion of bineoln. (Ireeley wouM deserve a fitting 
monument. In journalism, in politics and in ]ndilic 
lif(> he (^xercised extraordinaiy ])ower, and in the 
main that power was the result of moral itleals that 
can never die. it is well that steps shoidd l)e taken 
at once to bring about a lit ting ol)servaiu'e of the 
c(nit(Uinial of his birth. 

Chappaqua, Westchcsler Co. 

New York, January 30. 1911 



THE 

Chappaqua Historical 
Society 



ORGANIZED SEIT. 15, li)|() 



dDfttrriii 



JOHN 1. D. BRISTOL. Pr.-sul.-m 
MCTOR GLINZBL'RG. \ k .•-Pnsi<l,>ii 
lACOB ERLICH. Tn-.isunr 
EDWIN BEDELL, S>-crciarv 



I^oracc 6rcclrj[) i^lcmortnl 
Committee 



lOHN I. D. BRISTOL, CliainiKin 
\ICTOR GL'INZBURG. \ icc-Prcsid.ni 
JACOB ERLICH, Trcas.inr 
EDWIN BEDELL, Sccrciary 

MORGAN COW PERIHWAITE lOlIN MrKESSON, Jr. 

GEORGE HUNT lilRAM E. MANMLLE 

WILBUR HYATT A. H. SMITH 

GEORCiE D MACKA> L. O. lUOMPSON 
ALBERT TURNER 





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T/?^ Greeley Memorial Monument 
at Chappaqua 



Thk Ghound Plax is Shown in 

( 'dKNKH 



THK L'iM'KR Left Haxd 



There will be some modifieutioiis. The statue proper will 
!)(' of L'liited States standard l)n)iize, with appropriate bronze 
taliiet inscriptions. Nati\c stone from the old farm of 
Horare (Ireelev will be used for tiie exedra (seats), with 
polisiicd and carved jxianitc for the finials and the base and 
cap of the pedestal. Tiie tiled platform in its entirety will 
l)e ai)out li) feet in len<itli, and the statue and pedestal some 
If) feet in heifjlit. Hermetically .sealed crypts will also be 
provided for articles to be disti'ii)uted at the second centenarv, 
I'\'i)ruary W, A. D. 201 1. The site of the statue was selected 
by a daughter of Mr. (ireeley, the wife of the Rev. Dr. Fiank 
M. C'lendenin. It is west of the new railroad station at 
Chappa(|ua and adjacent to the old Revolutionary Pines 
Briclfie Road, over which Washinsrton and his soldiers re- 
treated aftiT the battle of \\'hite Plains. East of the statue 
site is the new pai'k of the \ew York Central C'happa(|ua 
Station, and east of this station is the park laid out when 
the station was built about eiirht years ago upon a portion 
of the I'arin upon which .Mr. (ir(>el(\v lived when he received 
the nomination for the Presidency. The statue will face his 
old home. 



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1811 






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His I'irst Scliool House 



(Cuts photo-roproduccd fniiii " l{ccollectioii.s of :i Busy Life," 1S6S) 




1858 




His (ircat Coiici-ctc Barn at C'liaii|)a<|ua 

One of the Ivirlicsl liiiililiiio-; of tlii> .M<'tli()il of ( "oust ruction 

Ti"ansforiiiiM| into a iii'sidciicc Aflcr the liurninii' of 

His ■• Home ill the Wooils." Si'c itaiic '.) 



1870 



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His "nome in tlie Woods" at Ciiappaqua 
Dostroved I)V Tire in 1S77 



(Cut-s photo-reproduced from " Ilecolloctions of :i Busy Life," 186S) 
7 




TiiK Gfi.NZiuHc Plaque 



An Artistic CrcMtioii of .Mrs. \'ict(ir (!uinzl)ur! 

Pivsoiitcii l.y llcr to 

Tiic ('linpp:i(iu:i Historicnl Soriety 

NiiK' and onc-(|uart{'r Indies in (iiamotor 

Casts Can Be Purchased 

Proceeds for the .Monument Fund 



1909 




His (iroat ('(incrctc l>;irii. ;il ('h:ip|)ac|iia ( p. 7 ). 'riansloriiicil 

iiitoTlic ('Iciidfiiin Ivcsiilcucc. Al'tcrtlic I )cst nicticni l)y 

I'iiv of Hi> ■■ llonic in 'i'lic Wmxls" {\>. 7 ) 



1910 




Tlic I.ivintr liooiii of the ("iciKJcnin licsidoncc at ( lia|)|M'iiia, 

with 11 i~ Cradle on I lie Hearth, and His I'irturc 

Above tiic .Mantt'l 




Tlic Wind liivak Phmlcl l,y lliiii 
of TIh- Cliurch of Saint .\Iar\- tl 



Xortli of the I'rt'sciit Site 
■ Niiiiiii. at Cha|)[)a(|ua 



10 



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TJinrarr (^rrrlinj 



1811, February 3rd: 

15i>rn at Ainlicrst, Hillsl)()r()ii<ili County, New I lauipshirr, 
his parents l)cin<i- Zacclicus ami Mary (W'oodlmrn) 
(Ircclcy. ( >('cu])ati()n of father, farmer. 

1813: 

"'I'lie newspaper wliieli was iii\-en to him as a playt hiiiii', 
he exainini'd witii curiosity; in(|uirin,i;- lirst ai)out the 
piotur(\s, then tiie capital lettecs, tiieii tiie smaller ones." 
.Vttends school in his third winter at Londonderry. 

1814: 

"Read eori-ectly any hook preparecl for children." 

1815: 

Reads "any 'hook whatever." l^arly disliuiiuished for 
recitations and spellint:;. 

1818: 

1 at her in ^ra\'e financial trouble. 

1821: 

lather financially ruined. 

1824, January ist: 

Becomes a teetotal<'r and takes li'reat interest in tlu? 
temperance movement . 

1826: 

Kilters the office of the Xoiihcni Sprrhilnr, at East I'oult- 
ney, \'ermonf. as an apprentice to the art of printinii;. 
Was "the real liiaiit " of the dehatiiisi schools. His fund 
of information had hecome so fjreat that he was reuafded 
as a .sort of walking- encyclopedia; and to "him the di.s- 
putes of the \illa,u'e were i-eferreil." 

1831: 

( )n failure of the pa pel' with which he was eniiaiieil, obtains 
employment as a jouineymaii in Jamestown and l.odi, in 
New York, and i'.rie, Pennsylvania. 

1831, August 17th: 

Keaches New \'ork City with SKI.'-'") — "poor in everyl hinii 
except <:ood |)rinciples and indomitable conrafie." .\ftei' 
nmch (litiiculty finds employment as a compositor in the 
printinji establishment of John '1'. West, 80 Chatham 
Street, where he earned from fixe to six dollars per week 
with Ions hours. Next finds work in Ann Street, on a 
monthlv paper, which had but a short life. (Joes back 
to West's. 

11 



1832, January ist: 

Finds employiiiciit on The Spiril af l/ic Tii/i('.'<, (li'voti^l to 
sportinjf intclliiicncc. A tcrrihlc season of cliolcni and 
^(■ncrtil financial (Iciircssion. Advocates tiie inti'oihu;- 
tion of ('rot<jn water. 



1832, October: 

N'isits his parents in New liainpshire, walking' a jj:reat 
part of tlie way. lieturns to New ^'ori< ('it\-, lin<iin.ir 
work at tiie st ereot \pina,' establishment of .1. S. liedfield. 



1833, January ist : 

I'ornis pai'tnersiiip witii I'lani-is \'. Story. .Mr. ( reorjie 
J-Siuce, a weahliy type founder, ti'usts iiiin with 8M) 
worth of type — a ti'ansaction result inj;' in tiie sale of o\-er 
S.')(),()()() worth of printing; material duriiii;; later years. 



1834, March 22d: 

\\'ith Jonas A\'incliester, who niai'ried .Mi'. Story's eldest 
sistei', issues the first uiuuher of The Xcw ]'nrk('r. The 
paper heii'an with scarcch' a dozen subscribers, increasing 
to O.OOO.' 



1835, August 1 2th: 

Thoroughly burned out, only saving books, in tiic great 
Ann Street fire. 



1836, July 5th: 

Marries Miss Mary Cheney. In this year dissolves with 
j)artner, Mr. ^^'inchester taking the jol)l)ing work and Mr. 

( ireeley the paper. 

1837: 

A year of unixcrsal i)anic. 7'//r Xcir )'orkcr in sei-ious 
trouble, many subscriptions not paid. Struggles on. 



1838: 



i{eceived 81,U()I) per year for editing the .fcffersoinan, 
which soon reaches a circulation of l."),OI)l) copies. 



1840: 



Ivlits the l.oij Ciihiii. issued from May 1st to .November 1st 
of that I'i'esidential yeai'. It reachecl a circulation of 
SO.OOO and was the great Whig campaign paper. Xovel 
and uni(iue in character, l)ut most successful. It has been 
s.-iid that with the machinery of distribution now existing 
the circulalion of this paper might have been sold to a 
(|uarter of a million. 

12 



1841, April loth: 

l''irsl nunilicr of Tin \ 1 \r )'(>rl: 'I'n'lnim is^m-tl, alxml 'jOO 
Mil)scril)i'rs lia\in,i:' hccii ohtaiiu'd. Tlu' cxik'Il^i's of the 
first week were ><.')•_'() receipts s'.cj. Mi'. lleiii\ .1. iiay- 
inoiid, celeln'ateii in after \cars in joutnaiisiii. I)ut llieii a 
lad fresh from college'. \\a> Mr. ( liceleyV first assi-taiit, 
a |iost whieli he coiitinueil lo hold for nearly eiuiit \ears. 
'I'Ik 'rrihiiiii reaehed a >elf-su>tainiMii- liasis in ahout six 
months, when Mr. Thomas .Nhdllrath lireame a partner, 
investiiii^ S2,(UK). and lakini;- the husiness manaiieinenl 
and sharini:; equally in profits. 'I'his period in Mr. ( Ireeley'.s 
career marks the termin.ation of his tremendous struii'iiles 
for success. Tin Trihinu under his maua.tcement became 
the most widely noted |)aper of the Kami. "It nevei- 
forii'ot tho-e who weie -t m.^ii'liuti- for liln-rly in other lands, 
whethei- they were Iri-h. i'lufi-lish, or I'renidi. 1 1 iniiiarians 
or i'oles. it wa- the paper of universal humanity." 



1 841, September 20th: 

'Idle lony.' >trui;i;le with The Xric Yoi-Lir is over, and the 
la>l numher of the pa|)er issued. He pays i)aper makers, 
tvpefoiuuler, jouinevmen, etc.; suliscriliers owinii- som(! 
SUt.OOO in >uiii> of SI to SIO each fail to pay. 



1848, December ist to March 4th, 1849: 

Ser\-e<| as a memher of the House of IJepresenta* i ves. 
i'ouiiht aiiainst the abuses of milea.iic and introduced a. 
hill to ili>coura,i;e speculalion in public lands and the 
cstablishnient of homesteads thereon. ( )pposed appro- 
priations for furnishin.ii- members with lil)raries at tlu; 
public ex|>ense. and sou<;ht to inaiif^urate other reforms. 
"No member was ever more faithful to his dutii's. and 
no one e\ei- icceiNcd smaller rewai"d." 



1850: 

rui)lication of his "Hints Toward Kefoi'ins." 



1851: 



\isits Europe and acts in London as one of the jurors of 
the <ireat Exliibition. ".\i)peared i)efore the I'arlia- 
mentary Committee havin<;' tmder consideration the news- 
|)aper taxes, and fiave important and useful information 
respectinir the newspaper |)ress of .\merica." His letters 
written in this period to Tin Trihunr ai'e amonu' the most 
interesting: of all the varie(| pioducl ion- of hi.- pen. His 
"' Glances at Europe " publishecl. ('happ;ii|ua farm pur- 
chased .soon after. 



1855: 



Airain vi-its i;uro|)e. chielly for the purpose of attendiui 
the Ireiich l\\hibition. 

13 



1856: 



spends imicli of the winter in Wa.^iiiniiton coininentin.ii- 
for The Trihu/u \i\H>n Congressional proceedings. It was 
at tliis lime that he was brutally assaulted by a member 
of ('oiifin'ss from Arkansas. "The Tn'hiinc wtit^ indicted 
in Nirjiinia — at least a man was indicted for uf'tlinji up a 
club to i)rom()te its (•irculation, and Mr. Greeley was 
indicted with him." 

1859: 

.lourneys across the plains to ('alifornia. Ha- his well- 
known interview with I'.rinhani ^■oun,i:;. Cordial public 
receptions greeted him e\-ery where, es|)ecially in Sacra- 
mento and San I'ranciseo. The pul)lication of his "Over- 
land Journey to Califoi-nia" followed. 

i860, May: 

Attends the National Conventi(»n of the liepublieaii partv 
in Chicago as a delegate for Oivgon by recjuest of the 
liepublicans <>( that state. 

1861: 

Name presented befoi-e the liepublican Legislative Caucus 
at .Mbany for {'. S. Senator. (Jained largely upon his 
opponents, but defeated in nomination by reason of the 
sup[)orters of .Mr. Evarts going over in a bod\- to Mr. 
Harris. 

1864: 

I'^ngaged in effoi'ts for peace. See in this connection letter 
of President Lincoln, page ."). W.-is .•! Presidential Elector 
for the State of New York .-ind ;i delegate to the Phila- 
delphia Loyalists' Coincntion. The rebellion was crushed, 
and the President of the slioit-li\'ed ( 'onfederacy a piisoiu>r 
in the hands of the Federal authorities. The Constitution 
of the Lnited States was explicit, that "in all criminal 
proseciit i()ii~ the accused should enjoy the right to a 
speedy and public tr'ial by an imp;irtial jury of the state 
and di>trict wherein the crime shall ha\'e been com- 
mitted." (h-a\'e leg;d itn| lediment s Were in the way of 
trial or eonxiet ion. He signs the b;ii! bond of Jefferson 
Davis with .Mr. ( lerrit Smith, the eminent .\bolitionist, 
and others. This act of .Mi'. (Jreeley's has been most 
gro.ssly misrepresented. It almost stopped the .sale of 
his "History of the Rebellion," and lost him hundreds 
of thou>;inds of \()tes when he ran for President. 

1867: 

\\as a I)elegate-at-Large to the New York State Con- 
vention for the Ke\ision of the Constitution, whei'e he 
was prompt and efficient in the p<'rfoi'mance of his official 
duties. His friends "were again an.xious to send him to the 
Senate, and before the meeting of the Li>gislature the 
almost unanimous expi-ession of the le;iding Republicans 
of the .-tale, as well as that of the principal journals 
of the par-ty, f;i\(ired his election." 

14 



1 868, September ist: 

Completes what is douhlless liis most intecestiiisi; woik, 
" Recollections ol a liusy Lite." 

1869: 

" Al'ier I u() ()!■ tliice i;e|)ulilicaii cainliilales iiad Ix'cn nonii- 
natcil atiil ilccliiicci tn luii tur Stale ( 'onti-oller he accepted 
the position, and I liouuli deteated in tiie contest * * * h(> 
ran aliead of llu' entire KepuWhcan State ticket, seven 
candidates in all. with the sinule exception ol' (!en. I'r.anz 
Siijel. who receixccl ;i (■oii>ideraMe ( leiinan \-ote which 
was not c;isl lor the other llepniilican nominees." 

1870: 

Ran for Conuress in the Sixth District, rednciui:; Demo- 
cratic majority- from L'.TOI) to al.out 1,01)1). 

1872, May ist: 

Liiiera! ('on\-ention at ('incimiati, alleiide(l hy a \ast 
(kde.iration from all parts of tiie I'nion. .\ominated for 
the Presidency with l'>. (irat/ lirowii for N'ice-l'resident , 
anil many demonstrations ot' the warmest enthusiasm. 
]n .lul\' follow ini;' nomin.ations endorsed hy the Demo- 
cratic ( 'on\'cnt ion at Baltimore ( )|' t he popniar \-ote he 
received L'.s;) 1.1)79; (leii. ( hain icceivinij ;^,r)<)7,()7(),with 
:;."). OU; >catterin,i;-. 

1872, November 2Qth: 

" The earthly lile w hich had Keen so busy, so laborious, and 
.so fruitful, w.-is o\'er." " .\o man was ever more f^enerally 
respected — no man e\'er died moi-e fi'eiu'rally re.tji'ctted. 
He has jiassed from the husy scenes of earth, in which he 
was one of the most u.seful and busy; hut as the .self- 
cultivated man of letters, the |)iiilantliropist, the reformer 
and the unsurpassed jouiMialist, he will 1h> honorably 
rem(>mbered so lonsz; as the history of the Kepulilic .shall 
survive." 

((Quotations from Thr Trihmif Almanac Biography — -to 
which wc are indebted for many other facts and dates.) 

J. I. J). B. 






15 



1 803 

"O, ijtmil (irtiu liaui. iiIkiiii all nun knew" 

1 sliall ;il\\;i>s tliiiik of Mr. (ircclcy as one 
of tlircc great Anu'rit-aiiH, the otlicr two hcing 
Franklin and Lincoln, lie was not I'rcsidcnt, 
to 1)1' sure; hut he was the maker of I'resident.s, 
and had it not been for liiui, Jvineohi, heloved 
and famous, miglit to the end of ins da}s have 
been nothing more than a faintly reinemhered 
Congressman, I couple him with these two 
men because the three were not only among 
the greatest of our own coimtry, or of any 
country; but they were peculiarly dear to 
mankind. 1 1 will be a long time, 1 fear. 
Ijefore we shall add a fourth to this unii|ue 
group. I doubt if we shall e\-er have another 
so intrinsically deal' to pulsing, warm-hearted 
luuuanit}- us was Horace Greelc}'. 

JoKL JiKXTOX. 



16 



At ('li;iii|i:n|u;i, 1S7_' 




'I'hc Wliiii- (oat. The Presidential Year 



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